


Ending B

by shortbreads



Category: Kamen Rider Zero-One
Genre: JinHoro, M/M, Pseudo-Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:00:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28223544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shortbreads/pseuds/shortbreads
Summary: An alternate ending if the events after episode 35 went differently.[spoilers for episode 36 and 41]
Relationships: Horobi/Jin (Kamen Rider Zero-One)
Kudos: 3





	Ending B

**Author's Note:**

> What if Ark wasn't a powerful, sentient existence and more of a system? What if Jin was able to follow his original plan of defeating Ark while it was contained in Horobi? How exactly did Jin plan to end things?

With a loud clatter, Horobi collapses to the ground, barely managing to keep his upper body upright. Blue oil splatters freely from his abdomen, his wounds clearly visible from the tatters in his clothing. Horobi looks down at the opening in his gut, oil bleeding through the waistband of his pants and pooling beneath him. At the sound of slow, dragging footsteps Horobi looks up at Jin.

Jin, equally as wounded and tattered, approaches him. 

“It’s time to end it, Horobi.”

Shortly after Ikazuchi was restored, the four members gathered together to summon the physical apparition of Ark. Once it appeared in the center of the room, the four stared at its erratic movements. Its behavior resembled a wild animal suddenly placed in a clinic for observation. 

“Why’s it acting like that?” Ikazuchi asked, disgust apparent in his voice.

“It’s essentially a collection of satellite data,” Naki explained. “It makes sense for it to be unstable in this form.”

“So it will need a vessel to stabilize it.” Jin added, glancing towards Horobi.

“That’s right.” Horobi affirmed, watching as the unstable manifestation traveled back and forth between the four of them before stopping before Horobi. Without warning, it entered into him, seeping itself into him as if injecting him with liquid. 

The other three watched closely as Horobi doubled over, suddenly overwhelmed by the foreign presence inside him. He held his hand to his head as the audible mechanical adjustments his body was making to adapt to the new data rang loudly in his head. 

“Well the installation process sure doesn’t look fun,” Ikazuchi commented, gesturing at Horobi with his thumb. “Glad it wasn’t me.”

“I agree,” Naki said with a nod.

“Oh?” Ikazuchi turned to Naki in surprise, ignoring Horobi. “You didn’t want to be the one with V.I.P. access to Ark?”

“I meant I’m also glad it wasn’t you,” Naki clarified. Just as Ikazuchi was about to snap at them, Naki added “It seems like the vessel will not only have all access to current data, but will also have direct influence on how to use Ark’s capabilities. In the end, Horobi’s the best candidate for this responsibility.”

With a huff, Ikazuchi crossed his arms. “I guess.”

Turning away from the duo’s discussion, Jin approached Horobi. Horobi pursed his lips together as he endured his discomfort, intent on not allowing a single pained sound escape past his lips. 

Jin lowered his head, trying to meet Horobi’s downcast eyes. “Horobi?”

At the moment Horobi made eye contact with Jin, his legs gave out from his piling exhaustion. Jin catched him in his arms, shocked at the toll the process was taking on Horobi’s body, and lowered themselves to the ground slowly.

Jin looked up at Ikazuchi and Naki’s surprised expressions as he cradled a trembling Horobi in his arms. He offered a smile, assuring them not to worry.

“I’ll look after him,” Jin said as he gently pressed Horobi’s feverish face into his chest. “You two can go on your own now.”

“Are you sure?” Naki asked, expressing a light uncertainty.

Jin nodded, smiling brightly, and at that Naki made their exit. Still smiling, he turned to Ikazuchi who looked down at him with a scowl. Jin didn’t flinch under Ikazuchi’s suspicious gaze. After a moment, Ikazuchi sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Can I really leave like this?” Ikazuchi asked, his voice carrying exasperation.

Jin let his smile fall. He turned his gaze away from Ikazuchi and admitted in a quiet voice, “To be honest, I just want to be alone with him.”

Ikazuchi—appearing to have been satisfied with that answer—let out a dry laugh and walked away, making a departing gesture without turning back.

Once he sensed that he was alone with Horobi, Jin raised his finger to his earpiece. He sent out a message to Yua, who was hiding away on standby, to leave the area. His message was brief, and her response was equally as brief. With the information he sent her, she didn’t argue against his decision. 

Horobi stirred in his arms and Jin brought Horobi’s face away from his chest. While Horobi still seemed to be conscious, he was hardly lucid, his body and mind clearly dedicating all of its energy to the transfer of Ark into its new vessel. Jin touched his hand to Horobi’s face, gently cupping his cheek. Horobi’s face was hot and the added heat from Jin’s hand caused Horobi to squirm uncomfortably. Jin let out a chuckle at Horobi’s expression and let his hand down Horobi’s body till he reached his abdomen. He slid his hand underneath Horobi’s clothing to feel the area in which the formless mass of Ark entered Horobi. There was no trace of its entrance. Horobi’s stomach twitched under his touch and Jin paused briefly, looking at Horobi pant shallow breaths in his fever-like state, and splayed his hand across Horobi’s stomach. He pressed his fingers into the skin, thinking back to the sight of an entity slipping through Horobi’s body as if it was transparent. 

The sound of a weak groan interrupted Jin’s thoughts and, taking a glance at Horobi’s soured expression, he realized he was pressing down on Horobi’s stomach with enough force to cause the metal beneath to creak. He retracted his hand from underneath Horobi’s clothes and lightly patted Horobi in an attempt to neaten the clothes he just ruffled.

“Jin,” Horobi called out to Jin in a small voice, directing his gaze at him through unfocused eyes—surely looking into something only he could see.

“Horobi?” Jin was surprised Horobi could even speak in his condition.

“So,” Horobi continued, his voice falling into a whisper so low his words barely made it past his lips. “In the end, it’s going to be like that?”

Jin watched as Horobi fell into a sleep. He moved to get up, laying Horobi gently on the ground. Jin walked to the other side of the room, patiently watching Horobi from a distance. He knew that Horobi’s internal system would be fully updated and functional when he awoke. He knew what he would have to do when Horobi woke up. He knew that Horobi had received Ark’s foresight of his plans. And he waited for that moment. 

Jin pauses, stopping in front of Horobi, and looks down at him for a moment. A cut from above his eyebrow spills oil, coating part of his vision with a blue film. Standing in one place, the oil seeping out from all his open wounds start to pool around his feet. Jin notices the pool start to expand and watches it gradually overlap with the pool of blue surrounding Horobi. The two oils mix together, appearing to look black in the dark lighting. 

Then he falls to his knees, grabbing Horobi in a tight embrace. 

“I’ll be the one,” Jin whispers, his words carrying a weight of commitment in them. “I’ll be the one to make it all end.”

Jin reaches for Horobi’s katana, lying abandoned near his side. Horobi doesn’t react, only watching Jin quietly from the corner of his eye. 

Jin raises the katana, aiming the tip centered between Horobi’s shoulder blades. He uses his other arm to steady Horobi’s body in his embrace, bringing his body closer to press against his chest. Horobi makes no indication of resistance, allowing his arms to hang limply by his sides.

Jin inhales sharply, preparing to make a clean and neat motion, but finds the katana to be shaking in his grip, not allowing him to take proper aim. Jin feels his face contort uncomfortably, feeling an ugly sense of anguish bubble up from within him. He grips at Horobi’s clothes, trying to ease the stinging nausea in his chest. He looks down at the katana again, attempting to steady his aim through his trembling. Feeling his whole body shake, Jin finds it more and more difficult to steady the katana as his breathing becomes irregular. He looks for a split second opening in which the trembling of his body and the katana synchronize and once it presents itself, the sound of his own screaming drowns out the screech of steel driving itself through metal.

Bolts and oil spill between them as Jin’s screams falter into tear-less sobs, only saying Horobi’s name as he desperately clutches at him, driving the blade uniting their bodies deeper. Horobi looks at the blade exiting Jin’s back, coated in blue, as his vision begins to flicker. Horobi raises his arms and embraces Jin softly, running a hand through his hair lightly. 

“You’ve endured a lot on your own, haven’t you?” Horobi says quietly, his voice laced with a gentleness never demonstrated before. He continues to caress Jin’s hair, trailing his fingers slowly as if to reach each strand. 

Jin’s wails come to a halt, the feeling of surprise stunning him into a sudden calmness. After a moment of processing, he closes his eyes, allowing himself to relax under Horobi’s touch. 

“To be honest,” Jin says, his voice beginning to sound distorted. He traces the hilt of the katana impaling itself in Horobi’s back. A laugh spills from his lips, contrasting the somber tone of his slowing voice. “I’m glad we could be together in the end.” 

Horobi feels the entire weight of Jin’s body go slack against him. Struggling with his remaining strength, Horobi props Jin’s motionless body into its previous position, bringing Jin’s face into the crook of his neck. He whispers against Jin’s ear, which can no longer hear his words, as his vision flickers into darkness.

“I’m sorry, Jin.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading.
> 
> This fic was directly inspired by an old interview in which Jin's actor said something along the lines of how his headcanon was that Jin's intention might have been to "stop functioning" if he really did defeat Horobi (with Ark) according to plan. And I've been thinking of that murder-suicide scenario ever since. How romantic.


End file.
